Pronunciation Key

Symbol		Explanation

\&\		as a in banana and abut, as o in collide
\'&, "&\		as u in humdrum and abut
\[^&]\		immediately preceding \l\, \n\, \m\, \[ng]\, as le in battle, en in kitten and eaten and sometimes open \'Op-[^&]m\; immediately following \l\, \m\, \r\, as often le in French table, me in French prisme, and re in French titre
\&r\		as ur and er in further, as er in merger, as ir in bird
\'&r-\, \"&-r\		as in two different pronunciations of hurry: \'h&r-E, 'h&-rE\
\a\		as a in mat, map, mad, gag, snap, and patch
\A\		as ay in day, as a in fade, date, drape, and cape
\ä\		as o in bother and cot and, with most American speakers, as a in father and cart
\[a']\		as a in father as pronounced by speakers who do not rhyme it with bother; as a in French patte
\au\		as ow in now, as ou in loud and out
\b\		as b in baby and rib
\ch\		as ch in chin, in nature \'nA-ch&r\
\e\		as e in bet, bed, and peck
\'E, "E\		as ea in beat and easy, as the first e in evenly, as ee in nosebleed
\f\		as f in fifty and cuff
\g\		as g in go, big, and gift
\h\		as h in hat and ahead
\hw\		as wh in whale as pronounced by those who do not have the same pronunciation for both whale and wail
\i\		as i in tip, banish, and active
\I\		as i site, side, and tripe, as uy in buy
\j\		as j in job and join, as g in gem, as dg in edge, as j and dg in judge
\k\		as k in kin and cook, as che in ache
\[k_]\		as ch in German ich and buch, as ch in one pronunciation of loch
\l\		as l in lily and pool
\m\		as m in murmur, dim, and nymph
\n\		as n in no and own
\[^n]\		indicates that preceding vowel or diphthong is pronounced with the nasal passages open, as in French un bon vin blanc \[oe][^n]-bO[^n]-va[^n]-blä[^n]\
\[ng]\		as ng in sing and singer; as n in finger" and ink (actually this is a single sound, not two)
\O\		as o in bone, as ow in know, as eau in beau
\o\		as aw in saw and gnaw, as a in all, as augh in caught
\[oe]\		as oe in French boeuf, as "o-umlaut" in German Hölle
\[OE]\		as eu in French feu, as "o-umlaut" in German Höhle
\oi\		as oi in coin, as oy in destroy
\p\		as p in pepper and lip
\r\		as r in red, car, and rarity
\s\		as s and ce in source, as ss in less
\sh\		as sh in shy, as ss in mission, as ch in machine, as ci in special (actually this is a single sound, not two); the \s\ and the \h\ are pronounced as separate sounds when there is a hyphen between them, as in grasshopper \'gras-"hä-p&r\
\t\		as t in tie, attack, latter, and later; as te in late
\th\		as th in thin and ether (actually this is a single sound, not two); the \t\ and the \h\ are pronounced as separate sounds when there is a hyphen between them, as in knighthood \'nIt-"hud\
\[th_]\		as th in then, either, and this (actually, this is a single sound, not two)
\ü\		as u in rule, as ou in youth, in union \'yUn-y&n\, in few \'fyU\
\u\		as u in pull, as oo in wood and book, in curable \'kyur-&-b&l\ and fury \'fyur-E\
\[ue]\		as "u-umlaut" in German füllen and hübsch
\[UE]\		as ue in French rue, as "u-umlaut" in German fühlen
\v\		as v in vivid and give
\w\		as w in we and sway
\y\		as y in yard and young, in cue \'kyU\, mute \'myUt\, union \'yUn-y&n\
\[^y]\		indicates that during the articulation of the sound represented by the preceding character, the front of the tongue has substantially the position it has for the articulation of the first sound of yard, as in French digne \dEn[^y]\
\z\		as z in zone, as se in raise
\zh\		as si in vision; in azure \'a-zh&r\ (actually this is a single sound, not two); the \z\ and the \h\ are pronounced as two separate sounds when there is a hyphen between them, as in hogshead \'hogz-"hed, 'hägz-\
\		slant line used in pairs to mark the beginning and end of a transcription: \'pen\
'		mark preceding a syllable with primary (strongest) stress: \'pen-m&n-"ship\
"		mark preceding a syllable with secondary (medium) stress: \'pen-m&n-"ship\
-		mark of syllable division
( )		indicate that what is symbolized between is present in some utterances but not in others: factory \'fak-t(&-)rE\
÷		indicates that many regard as unacceptable the pronunciation variant immediately following the mark: cupola \'kyU-p&-l&, ÷ -"lO\